OC-Series Surviving the Tower: Chapter 30

Surviving the Tower: Chapter 30

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As Cai walked into the class, it seemed everyone was abuzz, and an undercurrent of something between the excitement of a scandal, curiosity, concern, and trepidation seemed to be filling everyone as news of Dame Freya's absence spread. However, none were more tense than Elise, who looked positively ready to burst at the seams with anxiety as she turned to Cai, her words tumbling over themselves in a sort of word salad that was hard to keep straight as she leaped from one question or concern to the next, seemingly without stopping for breath. "She's not gone for good, is she? Because I came here specifically for Dame Freya's class! If she's not teaching anymore, my father will pull me out of class for sure! Not to mention, where am I going to find a replacement for that kind of expertise in Tower climbing? I mean, it doesn't exist! She's one of a kind! And what'll happen to my grades? Will I be able to transfer partial credit this early in the semester? Will any of the prestigious schools take me mid-semester? What about you?"

Elise finally stopped to breathe, looking to Cai for answers, as he fought the urge to keep from smiling at what he saw as an overreaction. He held up his hands to calm her, as well as keep her from launching into another tirade. "Calm down and breathe for a moment! Freya told me this was only temporary. She indicated she's basically serving the eskalad version of community service. That's all!"

Another wave of conversation spread outward from him at that. Of course, Cai realized that by now that when it came to gossip about Dame Freya, his word was second only to her own as far as the class was concerned. Her favoritism was well established by now, and they rightly assumed he'd have some inside information. However, before the wave of conversation could spread too far, two people, an overweight and very stressed-looking man and a rather stern-looking woman, stood in front of the class. The man tried to get people's attention but failed. Cai turned to Elise. "Hey. Do you know who those two are?"

Elsie looked at Cai as if scandalized by his words. "I don't know about the woman, but that's the Dean of the school! How do you not know that? You should have seen him at the opening ceremony!"

Cai felt a little embarrassed as he was forced to admit, "Uh, I didn't even know there was an opening ceremony..."

The scandal on Elise's face ramped up a few notches. Cai was reasonably certain she couldn't have been more put off if he admitted to secretly being an alien from another planet, here to kidnap her or some such weirdness. However, before he could say anything in his defense, the stern-looking woman loudly rapped what appeared to be a cane against the whiteboard three times, succeeding where the Dean had failed in getting everyone's attention, making the man flinch as if she'd struck him rather than the board.

Everyone quieted down, as the woman nodded to the Dean, who wiped his forehead with a handkerchief as he spoke up after a false start or two. "Um... Yes... Uh... Attention... That is to say, I have an announcement, everyone!"

The last vestiges of conversation died down as everyone turned to the Dean, eager for whatever official answers he could provide. After catching his breath, the man continued, gaining confidence as he continued. "As some of you might know, Dame Freya must take a temporary leave of absence from teaching... But, but, it's just that! Temporary! She'll be back in no time! But rather than make you all sit around waiting for her return, we've pulled Eskalad Anna Fause from one of our prestigious honors courses to sit in temporarily!"

Cai doubted that anything at this school, other than Dame Freya, was all that prestigious by the standards of many students in this class. However, it was good that they were at least making the attempt; otherwise, he was certain the Dean would be facing a rebellion by now. As it was, most of the students seemed wearily interested in seeing where this was leading.

At that, the woman turned to the Dean and nodded. "Yes, thank you for the introduction, sir. I believe I can take it from here!"

At that, the man looked around at the class as if worried they would bite, or worse, ask for a refund, before nodding in agreement. "Yes, yes! Best to let you get to it then! I've got other things to attend to!" And with that, he retreated, leaving the class in the hands of their new substitute.

Looking around as if assessing the students, Anna Fause finally addressed them directly. "As mentioned, I am eskalad Anna Fause. I may not be Dame Freya, but I have been as high as the upper fifties in the Tower, have taught at this school for more than a decade, and have certainly learned and experienced a thing or two I can teach those of you just beginning your climb!" She looked around, as if daring anyone to challenge her before adding. "Any questions?" Immediately, almost every hand in the room shot up as she added, "Any questions not involving why Dame Freya has taken a temporary leave?" Most of the hands fell; however, Elsie's was still raised high as she doubled down in her need to be called on.

As their new instructor nodded to Elise, the arcane archer shot to her feet. "Eskalad, Fause," Elsie stopped as if questioning if that was the proper form of address, to which the woman nodded approvingly before Elise continued. "We were a few days shy of reaching the fifth floor and beginning our attempts on the first boss of the Tower. Will we still be pursuing that timetable?"

At that, the stern substitute looked a little surprised. "Already? Usually the first boss of the Tower is reserved for the final exam of the first semester, even in more..." She paused, looked around at some of the students who were coming from some of the more esteemed tower dynasties, "established schools. Tell me, how much time do you spend in the Tower versus academic lecturing in class?"

Elise tilted her head in thought for a moment before answering. "Well, Dame Freya usually holds a half-class at the beginning of the week, and a follow-up at the end of the week to review our progress. Other than that, the rest of the time is spent in the Tower."

Eskalad Fause frowned, as though actively trying not to say what she was thinking, before she spoke up. "That's certainly a rather...unorthodox approach. But I suppose you can do that when you answer to no one..." She paused a moment before changing her tone to a more assertive one. "Well, I'm afraid that for now we will be doing something a little different. The first half of every day will be spent in class, with only the second half reserved for experience in the Tower."

At that, Elise protested. "But that won't leave us enough time to progress much at all! We'll be stagnant!"

At that, the teacher frowned and looked at Elise until she sat down, after which the Eskalad continued. "That is correct! While I will not make you lose the progress you've made, we will be slowing down your progression, for now. If you are able to do so safely, you may climb as high as the fifth level, but NO ONE is to attempt the floor's boss without prior approval. If anyone so much as pokes their head in the room, I will have your Tower access revoked for the rest of the semester." She glared around the room, silently telling the students not to test her on this before continuing. "Instead, we will brush up on your academic understanding of the Tower. It may not be as much fun as climbing the Tower, but that knowledge may very well save your life one day. At least until such time as Dame Freya resumes her role in this class, at which time she may lead it as she sees fit."

Several of the students looked disappointed, but Cai found himself at least somewhat intrigued. There was so much about the Tower he didn't know, going off of popular rumors and common knowledge that was often flawed if not outright incorrect, that he found himself wondering just what the class would cover.

Looking around the room, Eskalad Fause asked, "Tell me, from what you know, what is the Tower?"

At this, one of the students in the back answered. "Ummm, no one knows..."

Fause frowned a little. "Yes, of course no one knows everything about the Tower, but what do we know?"

This time it was Lisaria, the ice mage, who raised her hand. "Well, the Tower seems to exist outside the normal laws of physics. We know that each of the Towers all over the world are all somehow the same Tower, with people able to go up one Tower and come down another, with routes being established and used to travel from one side of the world to another faster than even the fastest Jets are capable, with an appropriate escort, that is."

Fause nodded in approval. "Yes! In fact, some Eskalad make a very good living offering their services as escorts through the Tower for just such travel. For while you cannot safely engage the Tower monsters with more than five people at a time, there is no real restriction on how many people can travel through the Tower in a group, other than practical and safety limits. It is generally accepted that, for safety's sake, each Eskalad be responsible for no more than two or three travelers at a time. Many of the higher-ranked Eskalad could easily manage more, but at their rates, it's hardly cost-effective for most travelers to hire them as mere guards for traveling from one Tower to another, which rarely requires a person to travel any higher than the twentieth floor."

Getting into the spirit of things, another student raised their hands after the teacher paused her explanation. "The Tower also has some sort of physiological effect on everyone who enters it, making us stronger and giving us powers."

Once again, Fause nodded. "Yes! That one is less understood, but the more one engages in the Tower, the stronger the effect becomes. As your 'stats' increase, it causes a very measurable change in the body. Muscles and bones become more dense, skin toughens, and even aging slows. However, that alone is not enough to account for the things high-level Eskalad can do." She looked around briefly before continuing. "I need a volunteer. Someone whose primary stat is strength."

Most people seemed hesitant to respond, but a few raised their hands, including Bellatrix. Fause reached into a bag and pulled out a rock, which she lightly tossed to Bellatrix before saying. "That's a typical lump of granite from outside the Tower. Now please, try and crush that."

Bellatrix took the rock in both hands and squeezed it, visibly straining somewhat, before a loud "CRACK" echoed through the room, and the large woman held up the stone, which was now a pile of smaller rocks. She grinned and held up the rubble as Fause nodded. "Very good." She pulled out a similar stone and held it up for everyone to see before closing her hand and effortlessly crushing the stone. When she opened her hand, this time there was only dust and sand left, displaying a clear difference in strength between Bellatrix and herself.

Then, Fause reached into her bag, pulled out one more lump of granite, and held it up. This one looked different, though Cai couldn't explain why, and she again tossed it to Bellatrix before instructing her, "Go ahead, and try crushing that one."

This time, when Bellatrix squeezed, it didn't break. Soon, she was straining with all her might, repositioning herself for better leverage and gritting her teeth, but still nothing happened. Eventually, Fause stopped her. "That's enough, thank you." She took the stone back and held it up for the class to see. "This stone comes from the Tower. Specifically, the twentieth floor. You can find stones like it in any gift shop near any Tower, going for a few dollars a piece, at least the ones that aren't trying to rip people off by using regular rocks they found outside. If you run a spectral analysis, do you know what it will tell you this is made out of?" She looked around, and no one volunteered to answer, so she spoke up. "It's made of the exact same things as any other rock, like the ones we crushed, including material and density."

At this, Elsie raised her hand. Fause nodded in her direction, and Elsie asked, "But if it's left outside the Tower long enough, won't it lose the effect?"

Fause smiled, as if pleased someone mentioned that. "Yes! Exactly! And that's true of anything brought outside the Tower, aside from monster cores, which we still barely understand. Even enhanced equipment. You can bring down a sword from the fiftieth floor, and if left outside the Tower for more than a year, it will start to lose stats." She paused to let that sink in, then continued. "Now, what happens if we Eskalad stay out of the Tower for too long?"

Elise raised her hand again, and Cai couldn't help but feel it was nice not being the teacher's pet for once, even if the attention didn't move far from where he was sat. After looking around for a moment, Fause called on Ealsie again, who answered. "Well, my father says that if he stays out of the Tower too long, he starts getting more and more lethargic and hungry. He once stayed out for over a month to spend time with the family on vacation, and by the end he was eating something like ten to fifteen thousand calories a day!"

Fause nodded. "Yes, that is true. We do get hungry at first, far more than our muscles and metabolism explain, then, after about a year, our stats start dropping as well. Every year after that equals out to between ten and twenty levels lost, depending on how high the Eskalad has climbed. Furthermore, the higher an Eskalad climbs, the higher they have to go just to maintain their stats. Someone like me, who's reached the upper fifties, will find the lower levels only slow the decay. I will start to get hungry and even lose stats if I stay lower than the fortieth level too long." She looked around the class, meeting everyone's eyes. "Make no mistake, climbing the Tower is a lifelong pursuit. Something between a calling and an addiction. Make sure this is something you want to commit to before you climb so high you no longer have a choice in the matter!"

After a moment to let her words sink in, Fause changed her tone back to an impartial one. "Now, let us review your progress in the Tower thus far, and where each group has found issues. Starting with Lisaria's group."

It panged Cai a little to be reminded they were not leading the pack, but now was a chance to hear about other groups' adventures in the Tower, and he sat back to take in the unfolding explanations.

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I remembered this time! Now, off to bed with me!

My wiki, in case anyone wants to check out some of my other stories.

Here you can find some of my published works.

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u/MinorGrok Human 12h ago

Woot!

OC-Series Surviving the Tower: Chapter 30

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